Stephen Foster — A Penny for Your Thoughts

A penny for your thoughts! For I know that you are dreaming: Love’s little, wicked darts Are sporting with your brain A penny for your thoughts! Thro’ those eyes your heart is gleaming Longing to welcome back The starry night again O’er the meadows thro’s the dew You’ll wander there with I know who Fair are her wavy locks as vapors on the hill A penny for your thoughts! On thy lips a smile beaming You’re sighing now for Jenny Dow That lives beyond the mill A penny for your thoughts! Do you think that you will love her When all those burning dreams Have flitted from your heart? A penny for your thoughts! Will a halo beam above her When those delusive hopes And visions bright depart? Will all blessings then as now Seem to linger round her brow Or will they vanish like the bubbles on the rill? A penny for your thoughts! For your heart’s a ruthless rover ‘Tis beating now for Jenny Dow That lives beyond the mill A penny for your thoughts! They are plain beyond concealing; Who cannot read a sighing Lover through and through? A penny for your thoughts! I have something worth revealing: Fair maids though full of vows Are fickle and untrue Now throw those flattering hopes away Tomorrow’s Jenny’s wedding day One with a winning voice has gained her yielding will! A penny for your thoughts! On your mind a change is stealing What think you now of Jenny Dow That lives beyond the mill?